Pages

challenges leaders face

spent some time recently listening to andy stanley address leaders in a past catalyst conference...andy's a gifted, dynamic and insightful leader - some great things to keep in mind here...

Your leadership ability has the potential to take you further than your character can sustain you

Leaders get into trouble when their integrity doesn't keep pace with the momentum created by their giftedness

Their is no correlation between giftedness and maturity

Our commitment to integrity can be easily eroded by our love of progress - leaders love progress (that's why many pastors hate counseling...its about getting people back to "zero" so that they can make progress) - leaders don't love the past, don't really care about the present, they love the future and the progress to get there - this can set us up for some unique pitfalls.

The excuse we are most tempted to use: "God promised it, I deserve it" - when you begin to get close to what you think God has for you, it's easy to turn a blind eye to a small compromise that will get us to what "God promised"...then there's the "I deserve it" thing - "I deserve" it will lead to compromise.

life of david

when opportunities line up with our prayers and our passions, it's difficult to exercise restraint - ex.: saul in the cave with david there hiding

emotional environments are like a fog - you get emotion when you mix prayer and passion (my note: perhaps this is why many pentecostals are so flaky in their theology...just sayin')

opportunities must be weighed against something other than the uniqueness of the circumstances surrounding them (see my note above)

an opening is not necessarily an invitation from God

how do you look at something and the surrounding circumstances and know it's from God?

david weighed this opportunity against three things:

the law of God - "the Lord forbid that I should do such a thing against my master" - it was against the law to kill the king!...even thought the king is trying to kill you, you don't kill him - seemed like an "open door" - maybe God didn't open this door - maybe the door doesn't matter when compared to the law of God. saul was still david's master - not only is saul the king, he was "anointed of the Lord" - you do not REPLACE what God has put IN PLACE. (my note: perhaps this is why many immature Christians leave their church when correction or even rebuke come - just sayin')

the principles of God - "may the Lord judge between you and me" - i know God wants me there, i'm going to wait for God to put me there.

the wisdom of God - how wise would it have been for a "wanna be" king to murder the "sitting king" while he's using the bathroom in the cave. that's not the story you want to tell your grandchildren sitting around the camp fire. his leadership would have always been in question because he had murdered saul while he was most vulnerable

everything that looks like a God thing, feels like a God thing, is suggested by others that's its a God thing...may NOT be

the most direct route is rarely the best route

the tempatations of Jesus in the desert by Satan was all about "isn't that what God" it's all the "most direct route"

In summary:

weigh every opportunity against the law, principles and wisdom of God

decide everyday you will not sacrifice integrity for progress

give the right people an all-access pass to every leadership decision - don't decide on your own.

being a leader does not exempt you from the need for wise counsel - it necessitates it

solomon (wisest man in the world) wrote more about the need for counsel

it takes only once decision to compromise your integrity and derail your life

never accomplish the will of God by violating the law of God, ignoring the principles of God or ignoring the wisdom of God

God is capable of getting you where you need to be, when you need to be